There was a time when you wouldn’t think of paying to have your Tweets or Facebook posts seen by your own fans or followers. Social media marketing is an industry that is so young but constantly evolving and we all saw the writing on the wall that social networks would eventually have to find a way to become profitable. So it should come as no surprise that pay-to-play has become the norm for social media marketing.

When Facebook went public they had to generate a profit to appease their investors. This meant that changing their algorithms would bring relevant content to the viewer as well as boosting their profits. It was only a matter of time that Twitter would follow suit: They changed their timeline to show top tweets first rather than in reverse chronological order. All of this meant that organic posts would not have the reach they once had and appearing on your fan’s newsfeed was becoming a distant memory.

As social media marketing becomes more prevalent in every marketer’s plans, the need for that visibility, exposure, engagement and growth raised the bar. Without a clear measurable it is difficult to determine success. The question becomes, how do you measure ROI on a system that is all about creating relationships, building loyalty and extending brand reach? It must begin somewhere.

It has become evident that organic social media posts are valuable for providing good content that can keep a viewers attention. The tide has changed because now you must find the viewers who might be interested in what you have to say and share. When boosting a Facebook post, you effectively showcase your content to those who might enjoy seeing them, allowing those viewers a chance to participate, engage, try or buy.

The tides are changing for social media. Hotels need to open their coffers and budget social media costs into their financial planning. Gone are the days where organic social media posts drive traffic to your product. Want real results from social? Start planning, budgeting and paying.

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